Thanks for joining us today, Cindy! You have an interesting moniker, Aunty Cindy. Care to share the story behind it?

I have only one son, but I happen to have seven nieces and four nephews. Most of my nieces are now married and several have off-spring. They all, nieces, nephews, spouses and kidlets, call me Aunty Cindy. Since Cindy is a very common first name, I wanted to distinguish my online self from all the other Cindys in cyberspace, and so many people already called me Aunty Cindy, what was a few more?

You are now a multi-published author as Loucinda McGary. Congratulations! Tell us about your newest release, The Treasures of Venice.

I am thrilled to have this story finally make it into print because it was the very first romantic suspense I ever wrote! It was also a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart contest in 2006.

The Treasures of Venice is a romantic suspense with paranormal elements and a dual storyline set in both contemporary and 1485 Venice. It opens with the heroine, Samantha Lewis sitting alone in a café in St. Marks Square feeling a bit sorry for herself because this was to have been her honeymoon but her fiancé dumped her three weeks before the wedding. Suddenly a handsome stranger approaches her and acts as if they know each other. When he asks her to play along with him, on impulse, she does.

Irish rogue, Keirnan Fitzgerald has a problem that for once, he may not be able to solve with his charm. His sister, a Renaissance scholar, believes she’s discovered the whereabouts of the legendary Jewels of the Madonna, missing for over 500 years. Unfortunately, others believe she has too, and kidnap her. Keirnan’s plans to locate the jewels and ransom his sister, do not include becoming involved with a beautiful American tourist. But he and Samantha seem destined to be together, perhaps in the same way as another couple in 1485 Venice, and all their fates are inextricably linked to the Jewels of the Madonna.

Sounds awesone. You are part of an indomitable group of ladies who blog as "The Romance Bandits". Would you like to tell us more about the bandits?We are a group of 20 wildly divergent writers and personalities. We have members from Australia, Canada, England, and all across the US. Our one common thread is that we were all finalists in the 2006 Golden Heart contest, which means that when we met, we were all unpublished. But we were all confident we wouldn’t remain unpublished, and we wanted a way to promote ourselves and our writing, so we decided to form a group blog and the Romance Bandits was born!

I think the thing that makes us stand out in the world of the blog-o-sphere is that we all genuinely like and respect each other and we have a really good time interacting with one another and our blog readers. This was no accident. We talked and planned and hashed things through for several months before we ever ‘officially’ launched our blog. We each made a serious commitment to the blog and each other, and I think that shows. I’m also happy to say that 12 of the 20 Banditas have sold one or more books, and we’ve garnered many, many awards! I believe it won’t be long until the other 8 Banditas also sell.

Well, I certainly enjoy the blog. :0) Your stories take place in exotic locations. Have you visited these places? If not, how do you research them, bring them to life in your stories?

I’m a travel fanatic, so yes I have visited the places I’ve written about, at least in general. I will admit that when I went to Venice, I did not visit San Michele en Isola, the cemetery isle, and of course, I wanted to set some key scenes in my book there. Luckily, I have a very good friend (Tina Ferraro, who writes YA romance) who has family north of Venice. While I was writing the book, she visited her family and made a special trip to Venice to the cemetery isle and sent me back dozens of photos and even a map of the place!

To date, I’ve visited 47 states and 26 foreign countries (including most of Europe, China, Thailand, and most recently Turkey), so I don’t anticipate running out of exotic settings for quite awhile. J

I would LOVE to! The Wild Sight was my first published romantic suspense. It takes place in Northern Ireland and features a hero with what the Irish refer to as “the Sight.”

What's next for Loucinda McGary?

I recently completed my third contracted romantic suspense for Sourcebooks.

Congratulations! Great to have you here today, Cindy!

AH readers, let us know what's on your mind, ask questions, make comments. Cindy is graciously giving away a copy of The Wild Sight and The Treasures of Venice! And be sure to also visit her website at www.loucindamcgary.com . It's gorgeous!

Deidre,Yes, I AM everywhere in the blog-o-sphere these days as part of my Big Bad Blog tour for TToV.

I have a hard time choosing favorite locales because most everywhere has something fascinating and unique to offer. Take Turkey for instance, I've been there twice and LOVED it both times. People I knew stared at me in disbelief and said WHY would you go there? But the history of that area is fantastic! The people are also very friendly. But I've found that most places I go people respond very positively to a smile.

The two places on the TOP of my list to visit are Egypt and New Zealand. I hope to get to one or both in the next year or so.

My DH was actually afraid to fly for 20 years. But once he overcame his fear, we became traveling fools! :-)

Venice was such a fantastic place to visit, and I tried hard to portray it so that the reader could feel like they are there. I did the same thing with Northern Ireland in The Wild Sight and had quite a few readers tell me I succeeded very well.

Hey Jane,Wish I could pack you in my suitcase! Our next trip is a cruise to Mexico, IF the hurricane doesn't blow everything away before we get there. I heard it is heading for La Paz which is one of our stops.

Once I get home, I gotta start working on BOOK 4! There's no rest for the wicked! LOL!

Great to see so much action at Armchair Heroines today! I'm sorry to have missed it, but I just got back from spending the day with 50 kindergartners...thank goodness I'm only the substitute! Where do those children get their energy? :0)

Hi AC!I've been following you around again :)i'd love to have the chance to read your books. Everybody says that the cover is great, and i'm agree with them.The very best for you AC!Mariskacuniquas at gmail dot com